Mark N. Katz

Mark N. Katz (November 11, 1954 - ) is a professor of government and politics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, United States. He researches and teaches classes about Russian politics and foreign policy, revolution, and the "War on Terror."

Early life

Mark Norman Katz was born in Riverside, California, on November 11, 1954. He is the son of Norman Nathan Katz (1932-1971) and Eithne Dolores Dorney (1932- ). After attending primary and secondary school in Riverside, he earned a B.A. in international relations at the University of California at Riverside in June 1976. He then earned an M.A. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (Washington, DC) in May 1978, and a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) in February 1982.

Professional life

Katz held pre-doctoral fellowships from the Institute for the Study of World Politics, the Earhart Foundation, and the Brookings Institution. A revised version of his Ph.D. dissertation became his first book: The Third World in Soviet Military Thought

After serving on a temporary appointment as a Soviet Affairs Analyst at the U.S. Department of State in 1982, Katz won a 27-month post-doctoral fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation (September 1982-November 1984). This, plus a subsequent post-doctoral scholarship in 1985 from the Kennan Institute (a division of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC) enabled him to write his second book: Russia and Arabia: Soviet Foreign Policy toward the Arabian Peninsula

From 1985 through 1988, Katz worked as an adjunct professor at the American University School of International Service (Spring 1985); a research associate (a staff position) at the Kennan Institute (September 1985-May 1987); an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Department of Government and Russian Area Studies Program (Spring 1986-Fall 1987); and a consultant to various organizations (May 1987-August 1988).

In September 1988, he became an assistant professor of government and politics at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He was promoted to associate professor in September 1992, and to full professor in September 1998.

He was a Jennings Randolph Peace Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC from June 1989 to May 1990--which resulted in a volume edited by him: Soviet-American Conflict Resolution in the Third World. He was also awarded a United States Institute of Peace grant for the 1994-95 academic year. This, along with a National Endowment for the Humanities stipend (Summer 1995) resulted in another book: Revolutions and Revolutionary Waves

With the support of an Earhart Foundation Fellowship Research Grant (Summer 1997) and a sabbatical from George Mason University (Spring 1998), he wrote yet another book: Reflections on Revolutions.

He has also written numerous articles on Russian foreign policy (especially toward the Middle East), transnational revolutionary movements, and other subjects.

From September 2010 through January 2011, Katz was on sabbatical from George Mason University and was a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Policy Council in Washington, DC.

Personal life

Katz married Nancy Virginia Yinger on September 9, 1978, in Oberlin, OH. They have one daughter: Melissa Yinger Katz.

Bibliography

Books:

• Editor, Revolution: International Dimensions (CQ Press, 2001).
• Reflections on Revolutions (St. Martin's Press/Macmillan, 1999).
• Revolutions and Revolutionary Waves (St. Martin's Press/Macmillan, 1997).
• Editor, Soviet-American Conflict Resolution in the Third World (United States Institute of Peace Press, 1991).
• Editor, The USSR and Marxist Revolutions in the Third World (Cambridge University Press/Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1990).
• Gorbachev's Military Policy in the Third World (Praeger/Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1989).
• Russia and Arabia: Soviet Foreign Policy toward the Arabian Peninsula (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986).
• The Third World in Soviet Military Thought (Croom Helm/Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982).

Articles:

• “Iran and Russia,” in Robin Wright, ed., The Iran Primer (Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace/Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2010).
• “Russia’s Policy toward the Middle East,” Russian Analytical Digest, September 28, 2010.
• “Russian-Iranian Relations in the Obama Era,” Middle East Policy, Summer 2010.
• “Russia’s Greater Middle East Policy,” Institut français des relations internationals (IFRI), Russie.Nei.Visions, no. 49, April 2010.
• “Obama’s Approach to Russia and Iran,” Middle East Strategy at Harvard, Middle East Papers No. 8, December 14, 2009.
• “Russian-Iranian Relations: Functional Dysfunction,” Mideast Monitor, July-August 2009.
• “Saudi-Russian Relations since the Abdullah-Putin Summit,” Middle East Policy, Spring 2009.
• “Implications of the Georgian Crisis for Israel, Iran, and the West,” Middle East Review of International Affairs, December 2008.
• “The Russian-Libyan Rapprochement: What Has Moscow Gained?” Middle East Policy, Fall 2008.
• “Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Moscow’s Lonely Road from Bishkek to Dushanbe,” Asian Perspective, September 2008.
• “Will There Be Any More Democratic Revolutions?” Nonviolent Social Change, May 2008.
• “Russian-Iranian Relations in the Ahmadinejad Era,” Middle East Journal, Spring 2008.
• “Comparing Putin’s and Brezhnev’s Policies toward the Middle East,” Society, March-April 2008.
• “The Emerging Saudi-Russian Partnership,” Mideast Monitor, January-March 2008.
• “Russia and Algeria: Partners or Competitors?” Middle East Policy, Winter 2007.
• “Russian Foreign Policy: Assertive, but Alone,” The World Today, November 2007.
• “Will There Be Revolution in Central Asia?” Communist and Post-Communist Studies, June 2007.
• “Non-Democratic Revolutions and Attempts at State Breakup: Is There a Connection?” World Affairs, Winter 2007.
• “The Putin-Chavez Partnership,” Problems of Post-Communism, July-August 2006.
• “Revolutionary Change in Central Asia,” World Affairs, Spring 2006.
• “Putin’s Foreign Policy toward Syria,” Middle East Review of International Affairs, March 2006.
• “Primakov Redux? Putin’s Pursuit of ‘Multipolarism’ in Asia,” Demokratizatsiya, Winter 2006.
• “Iran and America: Is Rapprochement Finally Possible?” Middle East Policy, Winter 2005.
• “Transnational Revolutionary Ideologies,” Society, September/October 2005.
• “Less Than Great Expectations: The Pakistani-Russian Rapprochement,” Current History, March 2005.
• “Putin’s Pro-Israel Policy,” Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2005.
• “Exploiting Rivalries for Prestige and Profit: An Assessment of Putin’s Foreign Policy Approach,” Problems of Post-Communism, May-June 2005.
• “Assessing the Political Stability of Oman,” Middle East Review of International Affairs, September 2004.
• “Saudi-Russian Relations Since 9/11,” Problems of Post-Communism, March-April 2004.
• “Democratic Revolutions: Why Some Succeed, Why Others Fail,” World Affairs, Winter 2004.
• “Losing Balance: Russian Foreign Policy toward Iraq and Iran,” Current History, October 2003.
• “Playing the Angles: Russian Diplomacy Before and During the War in Iraq,” Middle East Policy, Fall 2003.
• “What Do We Do If the Saudi Monarchy Falls?” Comparative Strategy, January-March 2003.
• “Breaking the Yemen-Al Qaeda Connection,” Current History, January 2003.
• “Osama bin Laden as Transnational Revolutionary Leader,” Current History, February 2002.
• “Russian-Iranian Relations in the Putin Era,” Demokratizatsiya, Winter 2002.
• “Revolution: Refining Its Defining” (with J. Milton Yinger), International Journal of Group Tensions, Winter 2001.
• “Saudi-Russian Relations in the Putin Era,” The Middle East Journal, Autumn 2001.
• “Unfaithful Allies,” Northwestern Journal of International Affairs, Summer 2001.
• “The United States and Iran: Ready for Rapprochement?” SAIS Review, Summer-Fall 1998.
• “The Embourgeoisement of Revolutionary Regimes: Reflections on Abdallah Laroui,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, July-September 1998.
• “Post-Soviet Russian Foreign Policy toward the Middle East,” The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 1996 [1998].
• “Election Day in Aden,” Middle East Policy, September 1997.
• “Central Asian Stability: Under Threat?” SAIS Review, Winter-Spring 1997.
• “Africa's Borders: European Borders, Contested Rule,” Current History, April 1995.
• “Nationalism and the Legacy of Empire,” Current History, October 1994.
• “The Legacy of Empire in International Relations,” Comparative Strategy, October-December 1993.
• “Yemeni Unity and Saudi Security,” Middle East Policy, 1992.
• “Superpower Conflict Resolution: Lessons for the Future,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, November 1991.
• “Beyond the Reagan Doctrine: Reassessing U.S. Policy toward Regional Conflicts,” The Washington Quarterly, Winter 1991
• “Why Does the Cold War Continue in the Third World?” Journal of Peace Research, November 1990.
• “Can the Superpowers Plot Peace?” The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 1990.
• “The Decline of Soviet Power: Implications for International Relations,” Survival, January-February 1990.
• “Evolving Soviet Perceptions of U.S. Strategy,” The Washington Quarterly, Summer 1989.
• “Soviet Policy in the Middle East,” Current History, February 1988.
• “Soviet Military Policy toward the Third World,” The Washington Quarterly, Fall 1986.
• “Civil Conflict in South Yemen,” Middle East Review, Fall 1986.
• “The Soviet Union and the Third World,” Current History, October 1986.
• “The Anti-Soviet Insurgencies: Growing Trend or Passing Phase?” Orbis, Summer 1986.
• “Soviet Policy in the Gulf States,” Current History, January 1985.
• “Sanaa and the Soviets,” Problems of Communism, January-February 1984.
• “The Soviet-Cuban Connection,” International Security, Summer 1983.
• “On the Significance of V.M. Kulish,” Studies in Soviet Thought, April 1983.
• “The Origins of the Vietnam War,” The Review of Politics, April 1980.

External links

• Official homepage
• Publications at Digilib.gmu.edu
• Travels and Observations blog

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Name	Katz, Mark N.
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Date of birth	November 11, 1954
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